Padres announce changes to Petco Park

The San Diego Padres announced Monday that portions of the outfield wall at Petco Park will be moved in for the 2013 season.

The changes will affect right, right center and left-center field, as well as the visitors' bullpen, which will be relocated off the field of play because of potential player safety risks.

"Our goal is to move Petco Park away from being the most extreme run suppressing ballpark in Major League Baseball," Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler said in a statement. "After an extensive study, it became clear to all of us that some change was needed. Petco will still be a pitcher's park; however, it will no longer be the outlier."

The wall that stretches from the right-field porch to the gap in right-center field will be moved in 11 feet and lowered to match the sub-eight-foot height in left field and center field.

The deepest part of the park, which reaches 402 feet in left-center field, will be moved in 12 feet, providing room for the new location of the visiting team's bullpen.